ODYSSICE

Odyssice deliver their familiar style of melodic, instrumental Neo/Symphonic Prog with both short and long compositions, full of imaginative soundscapes, sensitive lines and atmospheric textures.Most of the pieces are guitar-driven, somewhere between the emotional CAMEL approach and a more fiery JADIS pallette with excellent electric solos and strong lead guitars, offering a variety of tempos and moods, ranging from rich, elaborate arrangements to thrilling, guitar-based melodies.Some of the pieces have a more pronounced keyboard vibe, just when bands of early-80's British Prog come to mind, based on flashy solos and soft piano preludes.The sound of the group is bombastic, grandiose and extremely melodic at the same time with orchestral overtones and a wide spectrum of emotional content, while, despite its modern production, ''Impression'' has enough retro resemblances to satisfy even fans of 70's Progressive Rock.The production is top-notch, typical of a Dutch Progressive Rock band of the genre, with a nice mix and clear changing between the instruments.

A must-have for all lovers of melodic Progressive Rock.Well-crafted musicianship all the way with beautiful guitar work and endless, striking melodies.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Odyssice is a band that pretty much got stuck on time, as many others, by the time of Pink Floyd's The Division Bell (1994)/PULSE (1995). And this is simply unexplicable.

This albums may have got some Prog faith back but in terms of quality they are far away from being masterpieces, and some of those sounds look so dated today.

That's exactly why I can't understand how bands like Odyssice can release albums like Silence (2011), almost 20 years later and having EXACTLY the same sounds of the 90's, fake sounds. Keyboards, drums, guitars, bass, you name it.

The band tries hard but in the end of the 50 minutes one can hardly remember anything.

If you do like that particular era I mentioned go for it with your eyes closed, but you have been warned,

Many correspondents liken this album to Camel and Rush. Well, I can definitely attest to the Camel bit, not sure about Rush, a band I don't really find irresistible, consequently I won't reflect on here.

A long time Camel fan of the Bardens-era, this piece reflects more on the post-Bardens, Latimer approach of searching for a direction. Kinda in-between two chairs, neither here, nor there. Either side of the "Nude" album.

I do apologize here as it seems that my words reflect more on Camel than on this band, but the reality is that those comparisons are near impossible to avoid. Very pleasing guitar work along the lines when Latimer was getting better and better, but an element is missing. It's called Peter Bardens.

The band plays well, but nothing really outstanding there.to support the excellent guitars. Admittedly, at first listen I wasn't overly impressed with this album. Second time around it started to grow on me. Third time it left me somewhat bored. And that's how it remains for now.

Credible guitar work with average back up leaves a potential masterpiece rather lame. 3.5 is due, but I'll have to round it down in this instance.

Although there are no vocals they aren't missed just because there doesn't appear to be any room for them. This is extremely polished, with each musician knowing their place and working together to produce an album that is quite beautiful in some respects, and very interesting and enjoyable throughout. This isn't an album that is hard to listen to, the music flows and ebbs, but always with plenty of melody and a simple complexity. This isn't about playing music at the speed of light, or showing off as to how quickly things can be done but instead playing the music that suits the mood and the piece. An album for progheads who don't always want to be blown away or have to work at their listening pleasure.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004

Although the highlight for me and for many will be the guitar playing of Bastiaan Peters, special mention must be made of the keyboard playing of Jeroen van der Wiel who provides the perfect melodic counterpoint. While much of the album is fairly restrained, there are some powerful moments to be heard and the result is an album that is most pleasing to the ear. If this style of prog is appealing then this is a band worth discovering

Originally appeared in Feedback #62, May 01

Odyssice are widely regarded as being similar to Camel, a view I wouldn't disagree with. This is too a large part down to guitarist Bastiaan Peeters soaring Andy Latimer style lead work but they also tread a similar path of easy on the ear melodic prog. This may lead some to find the band's sound a little dull and if Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are your thing, then unless you have wide ranging tastes Odyssice probably aren't for you.

Silence is however pretty good, well played and whilst their sound largely centre's around Peeters guitar work there's also a strong keyboard presence, less retro sounding than you might expect from a band like this. The seven instrumental compositions are all enjoyable enough but could do with a bit more variety with nothing standing out as exceptional to lift it above the average. I do enjoy Peeters lead work in particular though, the rest of the band laying a solid foundation as he soars away over the top, which he does throughout.

A good album then which could benefit if only they'd take the bull by the horns a bit and rock out a bit more, like even Camel do at times. This they do to a degree on final track Swank but it's a case of too little, too late. However, if it's not their thing then fair play to them.

The opening cut,the long ''Frustrations'' is a great blend of melodic Progressive Rock in the vein of JADIS with superb breaks,symphonic passages and great organ and synths throughout.The following ''And so am I'' is absolutely mindblowing.A sort of CAMEL meets MIKE OLDFIELD meets PINK FLOYD emotional symphonic beauty with excellent guitar work,among the best to be heard,creating fantastic soundscapes.''Different questions'' is another highlight with its CAMEL-esque opening notes and the fine synth solos of Van Der Wiel interplaying with Peeters guitars later.''The final decision'' continues in the same mood.Atmospheric melodic prog with crying guitars,mellow pianos and a very grandiose mood with superb solos throughout in the vein of FLAMBOROUGH HEAD.

The album was fortunately re-released some years later as ''Moondrive plus'' by Cyclops and deserves the highest of the recommendations.Extremely melodic, well-crafted and nicely- arranged Progressive Rock,especially recommended to fans of JADIS, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, CHANCE, DOGMA and the likes.

Seven excellent tracks of Camel-esque music, played by superb musicians. All nice n' long.

Be interesting to see what my brother makes of this one, seeing as he's a Camel fanatic....

It's all instrumental of course. Vocals would probably ruin a band like this, although maybe a FEW, and I mean a FEW, lyrics would have been nice. Suggest a Genesis style 'Los Endos' closing vocal next time chaps ?

There's something to savor on every track, including a bass solo that's rarely heard these days.

I was a bit worried about the last number, 'Swank' which could have been a horrible mispelling in it's own right let alone a bastardisation of the Gensis track 'Squonk' also from Trick of the Tail. It isn't, but it could well be a Hackett/Banks outtake.

If you like Camle/trick era Gensis, Also Eden, and similar you'll enjoy this.

Oh, and best of all, the band look like the bloke next door.

'Scream" opens with nature sounds as synths and drums come and go reminding me briefly of "Xanadu". It starts to pick up around 1 1/2 minutes.This is both pleasant and enjoyable. A change before 4 1/2 minutes as the piano takes over then some tasteful guitar leads. "Lokapalas" opens with synths then it kicks in before a minute as the guitar and drums standout. Synths are back late to end it. "Senran" opens with piano before the drums then guitar join in. It's CAMEL-like around 2 minutes. "Children Of The Cloud" again starts with piano then guitar and drums arrive after a minute. Piano only returns as these contrasts continue. "Olympus" features lots of synths early then it kicks in then settles back again. I like the organ 2 minutes in. Catchy stuff.

"Impression" starts out with not a lot going on then we get some relaxed guitar after a minute. "Crusader" kicks in right away then settles back with piano 1 1/2 minutes in as contrasts continue. "Legend" is another favourite of mine. Sampled mellotron to open.This is a laid back tune with piano and light drums. A change after 2 1/2 minutes as guitar comes in from here to the end. Very enjoyable. "Anu radhapura" has a World- Music flavour at times and sampled mellotron to end it. "Flower Of Scotland" features picked guitar? and atmosphere. "In Your Eyes" is a mellow piece with piano and guitar leading. "A Prophets Dream" is more uptempo with guitar and pulsating synths. It does settle down nicely 3 1/2 minutes in.Then we get soaring guitar before 5 minutes to the end.

There are some really enjoyable moments on this album.

Kidding aside, this particular release from Odyssice manages to overcome the misgivings I usually have. They bring bright and mellow music but they make it work with their sweet sad melodies and nostalgic 80's sound with the big lush keyboards. The band delivers their compositions with well-crafted melodies and splendid lead guitar work that makes us almost forget Andy Latimer.

Well, not really 'forget' Latimer, rather 'remember', as this music is a tribute to the instrumentals from 1979-1984 Camel, reminding us of tracks like Pressure Points, Sasquatch, Ice, Drafted-Docks and so on. And take it from a skeptic, they do this style with so much skill and feeling that I am almost tempted to rate this as an excellent album.

Silence is a gorgeous album when I'm in the mood to dream along with romantic instrumental rock music. However, for me, a 4 star rating comes with a need for a more personal sound then the one band tribute that Odyssice does. But in the end, they do it very well and I can heartily recommend this album if you just want to enjoy good symphonic songwriting and execution. 3.5 stars.